Vitality Netball Superleague: Round 17 preview
Coverage of the Vitality Superleague continues on Saturday when you can watch Saracens Mavericks v Severn Stars on the Sky Sports YouTube channel from 3.45pm
Sunday 28 April 2019 11:33, UK
As the dust settles on what was a bumper weekend of netball with Rounds 15 and 16 played a mere 24 hours apart, it's time to reflect on what was and what will be.
Round 15, somewhat uncharacteristically of this year's Vitality Netball Superleague delivered predictable results. The top-five teams: Wasps Netball, Manchester Thunder, Team Bath, Loughborough Lightning and Saracens Mavericks all emerged victorious in their matches against teams in the bottom half of the table.
Round 16, however, saw the proverbial spanner hurled into the works as the race for a top-four spot took another dramatic turn.
Lightning, with perhaps the biggest upset of the day, beat Thunder in the final quarter denying the Manchester side a chance to join Wasps who are now the first team confirmed in the semi-finals.
Mavericks, not to be outdone by Lightning, similarly denied Bath a chance to grab a top-four spot and kept their own dreams of a Superleague semi-final live, by pulling out all the stops in what was an achingly close encounter.
Lower down the table, a defending master-class from Severn Stars saw them seize sixth position from Surrey Storm and Strathclyde Sirens overcame a plucky London Pulse whose comeback attempt was not enough to stop the Scottish side securing their third victory of the season.
Catch your breath. It was a busy one. Now it's time to look ahead and see what Round 17 promises to offer....
Strathclyde Sirens vs Wasps Netball - Friday at 7.30pm
Round 17 kicks off in Glasgow where the home side, Sirens, will face off against table-leaders Wasps.
Following a successful weekend, Wasps will look to continue their winning streak, which culminated in them taking the first of the coveted semi-final places after their match against Celtic Dragons in Round 16.
"We've got a big week of training, looking after these tired bodies, they need to recover well and rest well. Then we get back into training ahead of an away game against Sirens," said Wasps head coach, Mel Mansfield.
"That's never an easy fixture either; we don't take anything for granted in this team."
Sirens will hope to build in confidence after they successfully fended off a Pulse resurgence to take the win. Securing their first home win of the season at the Big Easter Weekend, the Scottish side will welcome the prospect of Wasps coming to their home turf.
Celtic Dragons vs Surrey Storm - Saturday at 4pm
Dragons and Storm are similarly licking their wounds after having suffered two losses apiece at the Big Weekend. Both teams will be hoping not to make it three-in-a-row as the season begins to wind down to its close.
Storm will travel to Wales hoping to defend their seventh spot in the league table, which will be up for grabs in this encounter.
Not only after their position in the league, Dragons will also be hunting for the three points that will enable them to qualify for the British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship.
Dragons' last home game of the season will also mark the final time Kyra Jones will play at home in this year's Superleague season. Jones will be retiring following 10 years as a player in the franchise. In addition to all that is at stake, the atmosphere in Cardiff will likely play a hand in the outcome of this fixture.
London Pulse vs Loughborough Lightning - Saturday at 4pm
Off the back of a rapturous victory against Thunder, Lightning will come to the Copper Box Arena expecting to stamp their authority on hosts Pulse.
"It was a tense game, we knew it was going to be tight against Thunder, it was backwards and forwards in terms of the lead and then we managed to get ahead in the final quarter and hold on which was really pleasing," said delighted director of netball Sara Bayman, following Lightning's Round 16 victory
"The focus will now turn to Pulse, it's always been about taking what's in front of us and keeping our destiny in our own hands. Pulse are a real danger to us and we've got to go to them at home so it'll be business as usual in preparing for that match."
Indeed, Lightning are no strangers to danger and the unexpected; their seven-game winning streak was brought to a dramatic end by Surrey Storm back in Round 13. If they hope to secure a play-off spot, they cannot afford to lose on Saturday.
Despite their best efforts to overturn a 10-goal deficit against Sirens, Pulse came away from the Easter weekend having lost two-from-two.
They will hope to eliminate the errors that plagued them in their tight match against Sirens and push Lightning to the very edge, as they have been consistently doing to sides throughout the season.
Saracens Mavericks vs Severn Stars - Saturday at 4pm live on Sky Sports Mix
Mavericks will take on Stars in a must-win match if they hope to stay in play-off contention.
Edging out Bath in what was another crucial game for Mavericks' semi-finals hopes, the Round 16 fixture certainly was not lacking in passion and physicality. A whole court Mavericks' defence persisted in creating interceptions to keep Bath at an arm's length.
Head coach Kat Ratnapala believes her side, "stepped up and delivered" against Bath who are also contending for the top four.
"Stars did a good job against Storm here. So there is still a lot of work to do," reflected Ratnapala, ahead of Mavericks' trip to the University of Worcester Arena.
In a similarly impressive defensive performance, Stars overcame Storm in another close clash. The pairing of Jodi-Ann Ward and Sam Cook proved essential to Stars altering the game's course in their favour.
"We are not afraid to contest with Mavs," said a determined Sam Bird, head coach of Stars.
"We want to shake things up and really show that we're a strong club."
Watch out for the circle defenders in this game, Razia Quashie for Mavericks at one end and Sam Cook for Stars at the other. Both are in-form and undoubtedly will be determined to be the difference that leads their respective sides to victory on Saturday.
Manchester Thunder vs Team Bath - Saturday 5pm
Last, and by no means least, particularly in terms of importance to the league standings, will be second and third place stand-off between Bath and Thunder.
Both teams will be feeling bruised after they lost out to play-off rivals, Mavericks and Lightning, on the second day of the Easter weekend.
Their attention will now be turned to overcoming one another in order to stake their claim on a semi-final place.
"It is small margins in this top five so it is an opportunity lost but we've got two more matches left to play," said Team Bath Netball head coach Jess Thirlby.
"We've got to find a way to close out games like this. The error count is still too high and it's costing us. We know that and we're working on it but we've got two matches left and it's time to put it out there now."
The last time these two sides met was in Round 8, where Bath produced a full team performance to take the win from Thunder in what was a fiercely-contested match. It can be expected that Saturday will feature the same qualities.
In terms of the league table, if Thunder win they join Wasps and secure for themselves a top-four spot. If, however, Bath win, Bath are then in a strong position going into next week, where all top-four spots will be decided.
Watch the Vitality Superleague run-in on Sky Sports on Saturday, April 27, when Saracens Mavericks take on Severn Stars from 3.45pm on Sky Sports Mix. Also, Sky Sports will be showing every game of the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup in July.
